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Save a Life, Take a Life

We've all seen movies about the Holocaust - stories of countless Jews being brutally killed and among those deaths, there were incredible stories of survival. Edward Zwick's new film isn't just about holding on to life but fighting for it and truly living. Defiance is the untold true story of the Bielski partisans that started with four brothers who defied the oppression of the Nazis and fought to protect surviving Jews in the Belarussian forest during WWII.

Director Edward Zwick with Daniel Craig

Being a huge fan of Zwick's work (Glory, Legends of the Fall, The Siege, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond), I was expecting a great movie. He has always been able to walk that fine line between realism and corniness and create a sense of verisimilitude while tying in weighty moral themes and packaging it all with enough entertainment. I am sad to say that Defiance does not measure up to that standard. This film tips over to the corny side. A lot of the acting felt forced and lines came across as cheesy. Most of the characters were too simplistic in their portrayal and just became stereotypes filling in their expected parts. The battle scenes lacked any serious strategy and failed to convey a real struggle. This oversimplification kept making me aware of the artifice of the movie and pulled me out of the experience. There was an undeniable lack of respect for the audience's intelligence. The overall movie may not be great, but there were still some moving scenes and moments. It's still entertaining and tells a truly inspiring story. If you can overlook the sometimes cartoonish characters, then you might really enjoy it.

Tuvia, like Moses, leading Jews through wilderness

A surprising amount of biblical references are sprinkled throughout the movie, but they were more obligatorily written to address the cultural context and had no real cohesion with the overall themes. What the film really deals with is the idea of vengeance. The Bielski brothers at first seek to avenge their parents deaths by killing those responsible and then any Nazis they come across. They simply fight with unrestrained rage. When they soon realize that the growing number of survivors gathering in the forest depend on them for protection and sustenance, Tuvia (Daniel Craig) the eldest, realizes the duty they are committed to. “If you save a life, you must take responsibility for it,” explains one of the old men they first meet. As they begin to focus on the needs of those around them, they turn their collective fight for survival into their vengeance. There is one particularly thought provoking scene that involves the capture of a German soldier. Should they release him? He begs for the sake of his wife and child. What about the families they've lost? If they kill him are they really different from those that are persecuting them? When, if ever, is vengeance justified? This is just one example of some of the complex issues the film poses. Defiance is a noble effort by Zwick and definitely worth watching especially next to the consistent amount of garbage that comes out. Ignore my biased criticism and check it out.

Rated R for violence and language. Running time: 137 min.

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